Washday

I’m a simple soul. Watching a line of clean washing blowing and tugging on the line on a sunny, breezy day is one of life’s small pleasures. Gathering up the clean dry clothes and sheets at the end of the day, and burying my nose into the pile for that incomparable fresh smell of clean washing is another.

Perhaps this is why, when I’m in Spain, I’m a sucker for shots of long lines of clean washing draping from a balcony, or hanging from a sagging line on some tall apartment block.

And that is my angle on why I’d never have a tumble drier in the house, Ragtag Daily Prompt readers. Damp-and-refusing-to-dry washing is much more my cup of tea.

I think if you lived in a place with 2 feet of new snow and a current temp of minus 23 C, not counting the wind chill factor, you’d have a dryer . . . But I like using the clothesline, too, when it’s practical!

I’ve never thought that lines of washing blowing in the breeze could be seen as negative, but the block of flats where my father lives has a strict rule (and it’s strictly policed) that no washing is to be dried outside. I think it’s disgraceful as what a waste of energy to use a tumble drier for nine months of the year.

You are totally on the same wave-length as me dear Margaret…. You should see the umpteen shots I’ve taken of washing lines everywhere in Italy, Spain, Portugal, rural France and even in tidy rural Switzerland…. A line full of solidly frozen washing high up in a mountain village! Another one in the Chemnitz/Leipzig region, also surprised by a heavy spell of snow and ice…. I do have and occasionally use my tumbler but I wouldn’t buy another one I think. Mine is ‘dying’ over a long time already and it is agreed between ‘it’ and me that it won’t be replaced. Of course, oftentimes it’s not a choice. If you can’t hang your washing (it is often forbidden to hang things out) what is there to be done?

There used to be a saying about how different chores were typically done on different days of the week. I think that on Monday people washed the clothes, on Tuesday they ironed them, on Wednesday they mended them, and so on. Based on the old saying, these photos look like it is a Monday.

I agree, sundried washing is the best. When I lived in a tall block of flats in Johannesburg, we had shared washing lines on the roof, but that was a long time ago. I doubt that it is still done today in an area that is now known for its criminal activities. Perhaps residents these days resort to the more picturesque habit of draping washing from balconies. I love your photos.

I know some people who use a tumble drier as then they think they don’t need to iron their washing! We live in high humidity in our region of SA and so it can be hard to dry the washing, especially if one is confined to washing only at weekends (when not at work). We can get weeks of continuously misty damp weather in the spring, and in the summer mildew sprouts in the musty cupboards and on wooden furniture. Nevertheless, I almost never use our ancient inherited tumble-dryer (or use an iron!). I hope you are managing with the extremely cold weather I have been reading about?

I didn’t realise you had high humidity. That must be hard to live with one so many levels. Damp washing and mildewed books I guess. This cold weather? We’ve had two cold days, but it’ll be 9 at the weekend. I have no idea what they’re talking about. We get the same Fake News.

Love these shots of handing laundry. Like you, I don’t use a drier and hang my clothes out to dry. Never owned a dryer in my life (and it eats away at electricity too). Usually I hang them on a clothes rack outside on the balcony. Here in Melbourne, Australia, the air is really dry, no where near humid and usually clothes don’t take too long to dry outside 🙂

No, I haven’t since the day I got married which was almost 40 years ago. My 99 year old mom still hangs out her laundry out in her back yard. While growing up, I was so determined to live my life differently than my parents and siblings that maybe this is one of those things I’ve done differently and never even thought about it. 🤔

It’s funny, isn’t it, the things we choose to reject, and whch we accept from our upbringing? I too chose a different path, but as I approach the age my mother was when she died, I find I begin to look more and more like her – which I never did when younger.